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Tigers garner a slew of GIBBY nominations

Tigers garner a slew of GIBBY nominations

10/27/12: Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera receives a trophy to honor his AL Triple Crown before Game 3 of the World Series

By Jason Beck
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MLB.com |

In a pennant-winning season filled with highlights, it figures that the Tigers would be in line for a bevy of honors. A few arguments, including Miguel Cabrera-Mike Trout for MVP, the value of the Triple Crown and Justin Verlander's case for the best starting pitcher, should sound familiar. Others, such as Dave Dombrowski for executive of the year and Austin Jackson's diving catch as play of the year, put a unique twist on the end-of-season awards.

They're all a part of MLB.com's GIBBY awards, which allow fans to join others around baseball to recognize the best of baseball this season. In all, nine Tigers players and officials are nominated for more than a dozen awards.

Major League Baseball's A-listers will take home 2012 GIBBYs trophies -- the ultimate honors of the sport's awards season -- based on votes by media, front-office personnel, MLB alumni, fans at MLB.com and the Society for American Baseball Research.

GIBBY trophies also will be awarded for the year's top play, storyline, hitting performance, pitching performance, oddity, walk-off, Cut4 topic and postseason moment, from MLB.com's Must C highlight reels.

Cabrera, not surprisingly, leads the list of Tigers' nominees. Baseball's first offensive Triple Crown winner in 45 years heads the list for MLB MVP, a new award honoring the league's top star, as well as Hitter of the Year. However, he'll find competition not only from Trout, but from National League MVP candidates Buster Posey, Ryan Braun and Andrew McCutchen.

Cabrera's Triple Crown feat on its own is a candidate for Storyline of the Year, nominated alongside the dueling rookie seasons of Trout and Bryce Harper as well as the seasons put together by the Athletics and Orioles to get to the postseason. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey's rise from obscurity to greatness is also up for consideration.

Verlander, just announced as a finalist for what would be his second straight Cy Young Award, has a chance to repeat for Starting Pitcher of the Year as well. His competition includes 20-game winners David Price and Jered Weaver as well as Dickey and Johnny Cueto, among others. Verlander's second straight Major League strikeout crown should help his case despite his 17 wins.

Verlander fell just shy in his no-hitter bid against the Pirates back in May, leaving him off the list of nominees for Pitching Performance of the Year. Likewise, Max Scherzer's high-strikeout greatness couldn't get him on the list. However, Doug Fister's record-setting nine consecutive strikeouts against the Royals in September made sure the Tigers had a contender. His was the only performance nominated that wasn't a no-hitter or perfect game.

Jackson was left out of consideration for Defensive Player of the Year, but his diving catch to rob Toronto's Anthony Gose of a potential go-ahead extra-base hit on Aug. 23 earned him a spot among the Defensive Play of the Year nominees. The catch essentially turned the game in the Tigers' favor, allowing Jackson to win it in the bottom of the inning.

Jim Leyland's late-season rise from what looked poised to be a disappointing contract year to eventually his third trip to the World Series earned him Manager of the Year consideration. All 10 managers who reached the postseason are nominated for the honor.

All 10 general managers whose teams reached the postseason are in line for Executive of the Year. Dombrowski, whose trade for Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante eventually paid big dividends in the Tigers' run through October, should earn some serious consideration.

Likewise, Phil Coke's emergence as the Tigers' temporary closer through the American League Championship Series earned him a nomination for Postseason Performer of the Year. Verlander, Cabrera and Delmon Young are also in that field, but they'll have to vie for attention alongside Giants standouts Pablo Sandoval, Ryan Vogelsong, Marco Scutaro, Sergio Romo, Barry Zito and Posey.

In the past four years, fans have cast more than 40 million votes across the various GIBBYs categories, none of which is restricted to individual league affiliation. Fans can vote as many times as they want until balloting closes on Sunday, Dec. 2, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Winners will be presented their GIBBY trophies at the MLB.com Greatness in Baseball Yearly Awards extravaganza during the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Dec. 4.

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.